Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will investigate the failure of the prisoner transport constructor GeoAmey to deliver three defendants to Plymouth Crown Court on 28 October 2016; and what the cost to the public purse was of that failure.

This incident has been investigated and the Contractor, GEOAmey, has accepted they failed to deliver one of the defendants by the time ordered by the Judge. The Judge’s Order was overlooked and instead arrangements were made to deliver that particular defendant to court at the time usually expected under the Contract, based on the distance from the prison where they were held to the court. The other two defendants were delivered to court on time in line with contractual arrangements.

Liquidated damages are a standard tariff applied to all contractors as a genuine pre-estimate of probable loss based on the cost of delay to the court and which are applied incrementally according to the amount of time delayed. The liquidated damages incurred for the delay to Plymouth Crown Court on 28 October are £2,094.75 and will be paid by GEOAmey as required under the Contract.